What are your opinions on "davinci method" and radiation treatment method for treatment?

barrymaurice

OK so long story short my father/stepfather has prostate cancer and he isn't good on the internet. He called and asked me if I could find out cancer survivors opinions on the two treatments because he feels like doctors he talks to are just trying to sell him on the method they specialize in but he wants to know which is actually the better choice for him.


So, what is the opinion? Should he go with the "davinci method" or just go with normal radiation?


Thanks in advance.

laserlight

treatment methods
Barry, This is a complex subject. What are your father's gleason scores, biopsy results, stage of cancer. These normally determine what type of treatment he can follow. The davinci surgery is one of these methods. Not everybody needs to have surgery, if he can treat this thru other means then this might be the way to go. I am 62 and had this surgery, the reason was that I was in stage T2c and the cancer was thruout my prostate, I had 18 biop samples and they came back with 40 to 60 percent cancer cells. My cancer was very agressive, so surgery I felt was the best option. My doctor explained all the treatment methods and the limits of each treatment method. Your over all health has to be good for surgery. There is recovery time involved, also age will be big factor if surgery can be performed. I donot think that any body on this forumn can recommend what treatment method will be good for him, this is one decision that he will have to make for himself. This is really based on the above geason scores, stage and biop results. The doctor should of described all of the current treatment methods, mine did this in great detail, I have a good doctor. Hope this helps

Kurt

Swingshiftworker

It's Complicated
As Laserlight (Kurt) points out, which approach to take in treating prostate cancer (PCa) is complicated.

I am NOT a fan of surgery for the treatment of PCa unless "absolutely necessary" and it's seldom "absolutely necessary" to do so, regardless of the stage of the cancer. If you want to learn about the risk and perils of surgery (robotic or open) for PCa, read this article:

http://www.hifurx.com/prostate-cancer/prostate-cancer-after-effects/

If your father/stepfather has a form of early stage PCa, (typically Stage T1c, Gleason 6 or 7 and PSA less than 10), he is eligible for many forms of treatment including (but not limited to): active surveillance, low dose brachytherapy (LDR BT), high dose brachytherapy (HDR BT), IMRT (intensity modulated radiation therapy), IGRT (image guided radiation therapy), 3D CRT (3D conformal radiation therapy), proton beam therapy (PBT) and stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) of which CyberKnife (CK) is the best known.

If your father/stepfather has an intermediate or advanced form of PCa and the cancer is still contained w/in the prostate, IMRT in combination with hormone treatment (to limit the further growth of the cancer) is often recommended. If surgery is chosen instead, follow up radiation of the prostate bed may be required if the surgery does not remove all of the cancer (which is often the case). My question has always been: "If you may have to treat the prostate bed w/radiation later, why bother w/surgery when you can just treat the entire prostate and prostate bed at the outset?" My answer: There is no good reason to do so, given the risks and perils of surgery.

If you father/stepfather has an advanced form of PCA and the cancer is NO LONGER contained w/in the prostate, surgery usually is NOT recommended because removing the prostate will not eliminate the cancer that has already migrated to other parts of the body. A 3 step treatment plan is usually recommended instead: 1) The prostate can be zapped w/radiation to kill the cancer cells there, 2) Hormones are taken to reduce the production of testosterone in hope of reducing the further growth of the cancer AND 3) Chemotherapy is undertaken to try to kill the cancer that has migrated elsewhere. This combo of treatments is no picnic but is necessary if the cancer has already spread.

If you can tell us what your father/stepfather's PCa diagnosis is, we will be in a better position to suggest what forms of treatments we think he should consider.

Good luck!

BTW: I had an early stage form of PCa and chose CK to treat it 21 months ago. The jury is still out but the treatment appears to have been successful and I suffered NO side effect whatsoever (no ED or incontinence, which are common w/surgery) whatsoever following the treatment.